Finally, Capt. Kirk has his cloaking device

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – The USS Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy's newest warship, floats out of dry dock Monday, October 28, in Bath, Maine. The first of the new DDG-1000 class of destroyers, it will be the Navy's largest stealthy ship when it begins missions.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – The DDG-1000 is longer and faster than its predecessors, and it will carry state-of-the-art weapons that can destroy targets more than 60 miles away, according to the Navy.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – The Zumwalt is 610 feet long and 81 feet wide. It weighs about half as much as the USS Arizona, which sunk at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – The ship is named in honor of Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who was chief of naval operations from 1970-1974.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – Capt. James A. Kirk, the executive assistant to the director of surface warfare, will be the commanding officer of the USS Zumwalt.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – Much of the ship's superstructure is wrapped in a canopy made of lightweight carbon-fiber composite. The ship is also built on angles so that it is 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – Coming out of dry dock does not mean the ship is ready to put to sea. The shipbuilder will now begin installing weapons. The Zumwalt will be equipped with a new missile-launching system capable of firing 80 missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles.

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Photos:Photos: U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer

U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer – The Navy had planned to spend up to $20 billion to design and deliver seven DDG-1000 destroyers. But cost overruns cut production to three ships.

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Story highlights

Capt. Kirk is commanding a new ship

It's not a spacecraft, but a new Navy stealth destroyer

Navy Capt. James Kirk shares a name with the Star Trek character

Hey Star Trek fans, how much do you know about Capt. James Kirk?

Were you aware that he was born in Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania? That he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy?

Doesn't sound familiar?

We're talking about the real James Kirk, who, like the fictional Star Trek character James T. Kirk, commands a ship of the most cutting-edge technology.

Capt. James A. Kirk will be commander of the Navy's new USS Zumwalt, the first of the DDG-1000 class of destroyers. It is longer, faster and carries state-of-the-art weapons that will allow it to destroy targets at more than 60 miles away, according to the Navy.

Capt. James A. Kirk

Much of the ship's superstructure is wrapped in a huge canopy made of lightweight carbon fiber composite.

The Zumwalt can't travel into deep space like the Starship Enterprise, but it does have a feature that the fictional Capt. Kirk coveted. On the television series, the captain once stole a "cloaking device" from a Romulan ship that effectively made the Enterprise "disappear" from their enemies' eyes.

While the Zumwalt cannot completely disappear, its canopy and the rest of the ship is built on angles that help make it 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer.

When its begins missions, the Zumwalt will be the largest stealth ship in the Navy.